A Happy Accident
by Leelan Oleander
Summary: Sometimes an unfortunate event can be the beginning of something beautiful. A Christmas O/S for the Fandom Fights Hurricane Sandy compilation.


**A Happy Accident**

A Christmas One-Shot by Leelan Oleander

Rated T (mild swearing)

_**Many thanks to Minnakoda and Jules Nissanmama for being Superbetas at this busy time of year.**_

_Some of you might be expecting the final outtake for Around the Bend, but Jaden and the gang weren't being very vocal. Instead, here's a light and relatively fluffy holiday one-shot to warm your hearts._

* * *

The parking lot outside was frightful and my mood was far from delightful, but since I had no place else to go, Walmart it was. It took ten minutes to find a spot only to have it stolen from me at the last second by some asshat driving a Volvo. I laid on my horn to air my displeasure and made my way on to the next available spot—at the other end of the lot—in a snow bank.

Silently, I cursed out the Volvo driver as I did the granny shuffle across the icy pavement. I cursed him or her aloud when I slipped and went ass over tea kettle on a particularly dangerous patch of black ice. I shouted my displeasure to the sky as I lay there, ass throbbing, on the cold ground. "STUPID SHINY VOLVO DRIVER!"

"You called?" a velvety voice said from above.

It became crystal clear that I must have hit my head when I landed, because suddenly angels we have heard on high were actually speaking to me. I twisted my neck to see where the heavenly voice was coming from and my eyes landed upon a tall, lean man whose face was obscured by the glare from a nearby halogen light post.

"Are you okay? I heard you shriek. Did you hit your head?"

"No, I don't think anything's hurt but my ass and my pride." My cheeks blazed with embarrassment as the stranger surveyed my situation. "I could use a hand up if you don't mind."

The faceless man chuckled lightly as he extended his hand. "It's the least I could do, seeing as I stole your parking spot. This is entirely my fault."

I grabbed his warm hand and pushed up, only to hit the ice again and fall back. He let out a shriek of his own before landing on me, knocking the breath out of my lungs and twisting my ankle in an unnatural manner.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," he apologized as he tried to right himself enough to roll off of me. "Are you okay?"

The pain radiating up my leg was a clear sign that no, I was far from alright. It was the night before Christmas Eve; I had an enormous list of gifts to buy in a short period of time, and it felt like I had broken my ankle. No, I was not fine, nor was I able to vocalize this out of fear that I would start crying in front of this…

…beautiful man. Without the obstruction of artificial light, I was finally able to see his face and I really wasn't far off when I called him an angel before. He was hot.

"You must be in a lot of pain. Where does it hurt?" he asked as he began moving his hands down my crooked leg. I don't know if it was the shock of his beauty or the pain, but I struggled to find words to tell him. His hands reached the epicenter of epic pain eliciting a yelp from me. "Geez, this isn't good. Let's get you inside so I can take a better look at it. Do you think you can walk?"

I whimpered as I shook my head, tears streaming down my face.

"I know this is going to sound weird coming from some stranger you met in a dark parking lot, but can I pick you up?"

Pick me up? Is he hitting on me?

"I need to carry you into the store; are you okay with that?"

Oh. Beautiful boy isn't hitting on me; he's trying to save me. I nodded and prepared for me to die of embarrassment in his arms.

"Put your arms around my neck, kitten, and hang on tight. I'll go slow so we don't fall again. I feel terrible about this."

Too stunned to wonder why he called me kitten or be weirded out by it, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he gently lifted me. Fear that my recent post-breakup foray into intense and up-close-and-personal Ben and Jerry's analysis would make me too heavy to carry set me further on edge, but he managed to hoist me up with ease. Just as he promised, we moved slowly, and given our distance from the store, I was finally able to get a look at him. He wore a black beanie, but I could see wisps of reddish hair peeking out around his ears, and I must say, they were pretty nice ears—as far as ears go. His eyelashes were long and lush, fluttering against his high cheekbones when he blinked. His nose was slightly crooked, but perfect in its imperfection as it sat atop two very luscious lips.

The Harlequin romance writer in me was quickly jotting down mental notes for future novels. All the cheesy one-liners I've been writing for the swooning, heaving-bosomed damsels to spout about their impossibly beautiful heroes had weaseled their way into my everyday internal monologues.

"You okay?" he asked, looking down at me? "I'm not bouncing you too much?"

"No," I finally managed to lie, "am I getting too heavy for you?"

"Not at all, you're lighter than what I'm used to lifting at the gym. Sadly, that was probably a factor not in your favour when I fell on you. Your ankle is not looking too healthy. I'll know better once I get you inside."

"What are you, a doctor?" I joked.

"Actually, I am. I'm an orthopedic surgeon, so if anyone had to fall on you, I guess I'd be the best guy for the job. I just got off work and haven't had time to do my Christmas shopping—that's why I was rushing to get a spot. I haven't been home in three days and I'm itching to get my vacation started." He smiled at me and my heart skipped a beat.

A doctor. A hot doctor. A hot young doctor was carrying me in his arms to safety. Man, my mother would have a field day with this one. I couldn't write a better story than this.

"What's your name?"

"What? My name?" I stared up at the beautiful Adonis blankly until my brain caught up with my fantasies. "Oh, right, my name. I'm Bella. And you?"

"Edward. Sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, but it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Look, we're here. Let's get you comfortable."

He carried me straight by the surprised greeter, through bedding and housewares over to the furniture section, where he gently set me down on a demo futon, being sure to take extra care with my throbbing ankle. "Be right back," he said, before dashing off to regions unknown.

Shoppers stared at me as I sat there likely looking like a right mess. I took off my beanie and ran my fingers through my hair, retrieving an elastic from around my wrist to tie it up in a high ponytail. I tried wiping away the remaining tears and wet salty trails they'd left behind on my cheeks and failed miserably at straightening out my skirt. With much trepidation I looked down at my ankle and started crying again. It was huge. There was no way it wasn't broken which meant that no one would get Christmas presents from me, I wouldn't be able to make the trip home to be with my family, and I'd be all alone because my friends had left town earlier in the week. If only I hadn't put off doing my shopping to get my latest manuscript finished…

"Hey, hey, don't cry, I'm sure it looks worse than it is," Edward said softly as he handed me an unopened box of tissues. "I went and grabbed some supplies. Take these, and drink this." He handed me a couple of Advil and a bottle of water. "It'll help with the swelling. As it stands now, we wouldn't be able to do an x-ray with it as big as it is. Let's get that shoe off your foot too; I'm sure it will help relieve some of the pressure and discomfort you're feeling."

Very gently, he placed a soft pillow under my leg and went to work removing my sneaker. "You know, the treads on these aren't exactly good on ice. You need a good winter boot, or even a pair of spikes to prevent any future falls."

I grunted as the shoe came off and he pulled off my sock. "Cool socks! I can't say that I've ever seen bright pink mustache socks before." It was hard not to giggle a little as he marveled over the novelty of my footwear, which prompted him to smile at me. "Keep giggling, please, because I'm afraid what I'm going to do next is going to make you cry again, and a pretty girl like you shouldn't be crying at Christmas. I really am sorry."

It was hard to tell whether he was apologizing for the pain or for falling on me, but I didn't have time to mull it over because the pain that shot through me as his hands poked, prodded, twisted and grazed my ankle rendered me momentarily deaf, dumb and blind. When my head cleared, I realized that his hands were cupping my face and he was speaking in quiet, comforting tones. My eyes opened tentatively and he smiled. "There you are, kitten. I thought you passed out on me."

"How bad is it?"

"On a scale of one to ten, I think you're at an 11." He said, an apologetic look on his face. He wiped the tears away from my cheeks with his thumbs before continuing. "As far as I can tell, it's broken and I think you're going to need to see one of my colleagues, because if it's as bad as I think I'm afraid you're going to need to have surgery."

The waterworks began in earnest this time and I couldn't stop them. Surgery? At Christmas? While I'm all alone? I had plane tickets! I was supposed to spend a week with my parents!

Worst. Christmas. Ever.

"Shh, don't cry, kitten." Edward wrapped his arms around me and held me while I had a meltdown of epic proportions. Someone stopped to ask if everything was okay, but I didn't hear his answer. No, nothing was okay. I couldn't even take solace in the fact that a hot doctor was hugging me. You know life is bad when you can't even enjoy being enveloped in the arms of a sexy man.

As soon as I was down to hiccups and dry sobs, he released me and went about working on my injury. Very much the conscientious doctor, he explained everything he was doing as he did it. "I'm going to wrap this bag of frozen peas in a towel and rest it against the swelling before I strap it up. I'd like to keep your foot as immobilized as possible until we can get you in to see a doctor, which reminds me," he reached into his coat, pulled out his phone and began dialing.

"Hello, Angela? Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm on vacation and I promised not to call in for the next week, but there's been an…well, accident for lack of a better word and I need to speak with Emmett."

There was a pause as whoever Angela was spoke to him. He replied with yups, uh-huhs and a series of _I'm fine, it's someone else who needs him_ responses. "Can you please page him and ask if he can call me the first chance he gets? Oh, and can you call down to the ER to find out what kind of wait times we're looking at? Can we bypass the ER, take her straight to the orthopedics ward and fill out the paperwork there?"

After the conversation ended, he returned his full attention to me. "How's it feeling?"

I shrugged. "It is what it is. It hurts like hell, but what can I do?"

Edward reached down and pulled out a warm, fuzzy throw blanket, which he promptly wrapped around me. "We need to keep you warm so you don't go into shock."

A Walmart employee approached us soon after and I assumed that since he formally addressed Edward that they had already spoken about the situation. "Dr. Cullen, are you sure you don't want us to call an ambulance? I'm sure she would be more comfortable at the hospital."

"Bella, are you comfortable here?" he asked, winking.

"As comfortable as I can be given the circumstances. I mean, it's better than being stranded in your icy parking lot with a broken ankle; which reminds me, you should really get someone to go throw down some sand or salt out there. Someone could fall and break an ankle and then sue you for negligence."

Of course I wasn't going to sue them. Shit happens and I'm a shit magnet by the looks of it, but I was feeling a little cheesed off that their disregard was the reason I was going to miss Christmas with my family.

The man's face turned white as he mentally assessed what I had said. "Of course, please stay as long as you need to, and don't worry about paying for the supplies you need to help this young woman out, Dr. Cullen." He swallowed loudly before continuing. "If there's anything else we can do until she is able to get to the hospital, please let me know."

Edward thought about it for a moment. "Actually, we could use a wheelchair. Miss Bella and I had initially come here with the intention of doing our Christmas shopping and now, well, as you can see, neither one of us will be able to continue doing so."

"Of course, of course. I'll be right back."

Walmart Wally ran off in a flash, leaving us alone. Edward chuckled as he fussed with my blanket. "You aren't really thinking of suing them, are you?"

Shaking my head, I had to giggle a little. "No, but I totally could. I don't see the point—I mean, yeah, it's kind of their fault I fell in the first place, but according to you, my footwear was setting me up for a tumble anyway. I would be happy if they would just put out some salt or sand so no one else has the misfortune of falling."

The familiar tones of an iPhone ringing took Edward's attention away from me. "Hey, Emmett what's up? How busy are you?"

His face was pensive as he listened to what his colleague had to say. I found myself wanting to lick away the frown lines that formed across his forehead. He was too pretty to frown.

"So, how many broken bones are you dealing with tonight?"

Edward was silent after that, listening intently to this Emmett person as they tried to come up with a plan. They must have figured something out because Edward was smiling a little when he hung up.

"Okay, kitten, here's the deal. Emmett is on his way into emergency surgery now—there was a bad accident and a lot of broken bones to contend with. He figures he can see you in about 4 hours, so rather than make you sit in the ER waiting room with all the coughing, sneezing, puking people, why don't we do our shopping first and then I'll take you down to get your x-rays and preliminaries done so Emmett won't have to waste time on that."

My jaw dropped. "Shopping? I can't even walk!"

Just then Walmart Wally came around the corner with a wheelchair. "I hope this one will do, Dr. Cullen."

"As long as I can raise the leg and footrests, we're in business. Thank you."

Edward went to work adjusting the wheelchair so my injured foot could be elevated and set a fuzzy pillow on the seat before helping me up and into it. I won't lie, the pain was excruciating and I may have cried…again…but found that the pain was manageable once I was seated in the chair. Again, he tucked the blanket around me and off we went.

"Are we really doing this?" I asked, still shocked that we were Christmas shopping at a time like this.

"Would you rather be at the ER?" he replied, expertly guiding the chair around displays so as not to hit my foot.

"No way. This is much better."

We stopped near the front of the store, where he came around and knelt before me. "So, what's on your list, beautiful Bella? Which section first?"

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my own iPhone, where I called up my Christmas list. "Here's what I was coming for…think we can manage it?"

He paused before accessing his own list, then compared them. "I do believe our lists are quite compatible, Miss Bella. Do you mind holding the basket while I steer?"

"Not at all. I'd much rather you focus on not banging me around as you navigate this retail jungle without inflicting any further injury on me."

So that's how I ended up sitting in a wheelchair in Walmart, with a broken ankle, on Christmas Eve eve, doing my Christmas shopping with the hottest stranger I had ever met. A sexy orthopedic surgeon stranger at that.

Seriously, you can't write shit this good.

After a couple of hours of shopping, we went to the checkout and were promptly informed that all of our purchases would be free. I then found myself on my way to the hospital in the stupid shiny Volvo that I had been cursing when I first lost my footing and my pride. Edward must have pulled some strings because after getting me settled in an ER wheelchair, we breezed past the germ-infested gloom and doom of the waiting room, sailed through the ER and into a private room beside the nurses' station in Orthopedics. A pretty, perky brunette bounced in with a clipboard. "Hi, Edward! Wasn't expecting to see you here for another week. Who's our friend here and what happened?"

Edward went on to tell her my first name, but I had to fill in the rest of my personal details since we hadn't really gone beyond given names. As I completed the paperwork, Edward continued telling the nurse, whose name I found out was Alice, what had happened and what his primary diagnosis was. She looked over at me sympathetically. "Oh, Bella, how rotten! I guess if anyone had to fall on you, Edward was the right guy."

I laughed. "So I've been told."

Alice slapped Edward's arm playfully. "See what happens when you're not a gentleman? Mom is going to tear you a new one when she finds out about this—if you hadn't stolen her parking spot, she wouldn't be in this mess."

"I know, I know," he said, shamefully. "If it weren't for the fact that poor Bella is in so much pain and I ruined her Christmas, I'd almost find it funny."

"Well, let's get her unwrapped and assessed before we ship her off to x-ray."

Alice went about her business very methodically. I could tell that she knew what she was doing and her confidence and ability to be gentle with me made me like her even more. Edward excused himself for a moment, leaving the two of us alone.

"I couldn't help but notice you said _mom_ to Edward. Are you...?"

"Siblings, yes. Edward is my older brother, and mom will seriously give him a tongue lashing when she hears about this. She spent years trying to teach my brothers to be gentlemen and I guess this would be a prime, but strange, example of why it's important." She laughed loudly until she saw my ankle. "Ouch, geez, Bella. I think I might have to recommend that Edward go on a diet. He did quite the number on you."

"How bad is it, Alice?"

I could tell by her eyes that it was bad. "Do you want the honest truth?"

"Please," I implored. I figured it would be best to tear the BandAid off quickly and know what I was in for so I could let my family know.

"I think you'll be spending Christmas with us here, Bella."

Hearing it from Edward was bad, but when Alice spoke the words I dreaded hearing, I had yet another meltdown. Alice plumped my pillows before giving me a hug. In a long stream of word vomit, I spilled how I was going to be alone, how I was going to have to cancel my trip home, how everything was falling apart, how my boyfriend had left me just a couple of weeks before…

Alice's reassurances soothed me somewhat, but they couldn't make things better. "Shh, Bella, don't worry, we won't let you be alone. It'll all work out."

Exhausted from the events of the evening, I allowed the sound of Alice's soothing reassurances to lull me into a light sleep. When I next opened my eyes, my bed was moving and Edward was walking beside me, holding my hand. "Hey, sleepyhead. We're just going to the X-ray department now. Emmett will be ready to see you in about an hour and we'll have you almost good as new in no time."

* * *

**Edward**

Alice had started an IV while Bella was asleep and had given her something for the pain, as well as some Ativan. The poor girl was upset, and for good reason. She hadn't divulged everything I had taken from her when I had stolen her parking spot, thus beginning this horrible chain of events. When I heard it straight from her mouth to Alice's ear I felt like a Grade A Shit. Mom had every right to give me a slap for what I had done.

Mom had taught us all to be kind, considerate, and that above all, we should be gentlemen. I had disappointed her and myself when I had taken Bella's parking spot, and then to add insult to injury, I end up shattering the poor girl's ankle. At Christmas.

Alice smiled sadly at me when I entered the room. "Did you hear that?"

I nodded as I stared at the beautiful, broken girl on the bed. "I feel awful, Alice. What do I do?"

"I've got some ideas, brother mine. Let's just get her patched up and we'll go from there. She's about Rose's size, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah…sort of…she's a bit smaller. Why?"

My sister gave me a hug as she passed by. "She's not going to want to be stuck in a Johnny shirt when she gets out of surgery, is she? And since none of her friends or family are nearby, there's no one to bring any clothes in for her. I thought I'd give Rose a call to see if she could bring some in, and maybe pick up some new undies for the poor girl."

"You are brilliant, Alice. I agree, I think it would probably make her feel more comfortable. Thanks for that."

"I'll be back when x-ray is ready for her. Grab a seat and relax, would you?"

I've had to deal with some drugged up patients in my time, but never have I laughed as hard as I did when Bella asked me if I was a chicken.

Obviously the drugs were working, so when she woke up on the way to x-ray and started rambling nonsense about being in a cotton wool cocoon, I might have chuckled a little. When she wouldn't stop shouting Christmas carols at the top of her lungs as they were trying to get images of her broken bones, I laughed aloud. When they asked me to go in and calm her down, I donned a lovely blue lead apron and sat by her head, whispering to her to stay still and brushing my fingers across her cheek to comfort her. At one point her hazy eyes sought mine out and she smiled lazily before asking if I was a chicken.

"A what?"

"A chicken! You keep rubbing your feathers on my face, pretty chicken boy."

Well, that did me in. I laughed so loud the technicians threatened to kick me out. Bella pouted, then proceeded to whimper and cry before falling asleep again.

God, every tear that fell from her gorgeous brown eyes damn near killed me.

Did I say gorgeous?

Busted. Yeah, she's hot. Wait, to say Bella is hot is to do her a disservice. Bella is stunning, even when she looks like she's been to hell and back. If I hadn't injured her so seriously, I would have considered the night's events to be dumb luck and asked her out with some cheesy one-liner. Now that I've ruined her holidays, she'll always think of me as the guy who broke her ankle.

I sat by her side, holding her hand while she slept fitfully. The girl was a sleep talker, that was for damn sure. I can't be positive, but I think she may have called me a Hot Doc. Emmett interrupted my observations when he came in with the x-rays in hand.

My giant of a brother walked into the room, his usual cheerful smile was strained. People were often surprised that such a big man could be so pleasant and attentive to the tiny details of orthopedic surgery despite his nearly dinner plate-sized hands.

"Dude, how on earth did you manage to do _this_ to the poor girl?" He hung the films on the light box, illuminating the damage. "It's going to take more than a couple of pins and six weeks in a cast to fix this."

Fisting my hair, I chanced a look back at the sleeping beauty behind us and sighed. "I slipped, Em. I reached down to help her up and I fell on her."

He patted my stomach and clucked at me. "You really need to lay off the carbs, brother mine."

"Brother?" Bella asked groggily. "Is there a doctor or nurse in this hospital that isn't a Cullen?"

I blushed as I went back to her side. "Um, there seem to be an abundance of us here. Bella, I'd like you to meet my older brother Emmett, he'll be your surgeon tonight."

Bella shook his hand, then rubbed at her eyes. "Are there any more of you here that I should know about?"

Emmett laughed. "Well, Dad is the Chief of Staff, Mom's the head of the Nursing Department, my wife Rosalie will likely be your physical therapist for your post-op physio, our sister Alice, whom you've met is your nurse, her fiancé Jasper will be your anesthesiologist, and we have cousins in housekeeping, diagnostic imaging, pediatrics and phlebotomy. So yeah, a Cullen will likely be in your life every step of your stay here. I hope my idiotic brother's lame attempt at meeting a beautiful woman hasn't soured you on the rest of us."

Damn it! I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks and disappearing into my hairline. "Shut it, Emmett."

Much to my relief, Bella laughed at him and smiled. "If you guys are as attentive as Edward is, I'll be back on my feet in no time. So, tell me, Dr. Emmett, what's the damage."

My heart dropped as he explained in great detail about how badly I had shattered her. With each explanation her smile faltered until she looked so sullen I thought she was going to cry again. I moved to her side and took her hand. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

"Pshaw, Edward, stop being a drama queen and taking all the blame," she joked, evidently trying to hide her disappointment. "I'll be fine."

Emmett moved to the other side of the bed and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You've got the best of the best working on you, Bella. I'll have you ballroom dancing in no time. Now, Edward here is going to make it up to you by helping Alice get you prepped for surgery and I'm going to go show your films to my team so we can come up with a game plan. I'll see you in the OR, kiddo."

And with that, my brother left and my sister took his place. "Bella, let's get you out of those clothes and into a Johnny shirt. The sooner we get you in for surgery, the sooner we get you back on the ward where I can keep an eye on you. Edward, scoot. Girls only."

Bella looked up at me, fear in her eyes. "I need to cancel my flight and call my parents."

"Why don't you give my brother your phone and let _him_ explain to your parents about how it's _all his fault_ that you won't be home for Christmas," she winked at Bella before looking at me. "Edward won't mind at all, will you?"

I shook my head no. "It's the very least I can do."

After taking her phone, I went into the hallway to give them some privacy and to confess to her parents that I was the idiot who was keeping her away from home for Christmas.

"Bella! Please tell me you're bringing the galleys for your new books!" a bright, perky voice practically shouted at me.

"Mrs. Swan?" I asked.

"Yes, who is this? Where's Bella?"

Deep breath in. "Mrs. Swan, my name is Edward Cullen and I'm a doctor…"

Her shouting cut me off before I could go any further. "Doctor? Charlie, pick up the other phone! Something's wrong with Bella! Doctor, is she…is she okay?"

The tremor in her voice was heartbreaking. "Mrs. Cullen, Bella had an accident this evening, but she'll be fine. She fell in a department store parking lot and broke her ankle. My brother will be doing surgery tonight to place pins and rods to repair the damage. I'm very sorry, but she won't be able to travel for some time. At best, she won't be leaving the hospital for a couple of weeks."

Mr. Swan cut in. "Doctor…"

"Cullen, sir, Dr. Edward Cullen. I'm an orthopedist."

"And your brother, is he good?" he asked gruffly.

"Yes sir, he's the best. I wouldn't trust her to anyone else."

"And how do you figure into all of this?" he asked, suspiciously.

"I found her in the parking lot, sir. She had fallen on some black ice. When I stopped to help her up, I, er, kindoffellonherandbrokeheran kle. It was an accident, sir."

"YOU WHAT?" he bellowed.

Mrs. Swan chimed in. "Charles, calm down. You are not playing police chief when our daughter is laid up in the hospital. This young man was kind enough to try to help her; it was just an accident. Now, _Doctor_ Cullen, I'm sure you have a wife and family to get home to. I appreciate you taking the time to call and tell us. Please let us know when she comes out of surgery, okay? Tell her we love her and we'll try to find a way to get there as soon as we can."

I heard Mr. Swan grumbling something in the background about trying to find a way to get a shotgun on a plane so he could take care of me for hurting his kid.

"Mr. and Mrs. Swan, I promise I'll call you as soon as I hear from my brother and will pass along your message. I'm going to stay here until I know for sure that everything is okay, and no, Mrs. Swan, I don't have a wife or kids to get home to."

I could have sworn I heard her squeal as I ended the call.

I paced up and down the hall a couple of times while I waited for Alice to give me the go-ahead to enter the room. Bella was propped up in bed wearing a thin Johnny shirt, shivering, while Alice ran to get her some warm blankets.

"Your parents send their love and I think your father wants to shoot me."

Bella laughed. "That's my dad. It's the police chief in him—he can't help it."

"They also said that they will try to get here as soon as they can."

I watched as her bottom lip trembled. "They can't afford to fly here; that's why I was going to see them. I can't transfer any money to them while I'm laid up here…shit."

"Shh, Bella, don't worry about it. We'll sort it out, I promise."

Her long brown ponytail whipped around as she turned to look at me. "We? How do you fit into all of this?"

"I got you here, I'll figure out how to get your parents here too. Now, you need to try to rest while we wait for Jasper to arrive."

As if on cue, in walked my soon-to-be brother-in-law, Jasper. "Hi Bella, I'm Jasper and I'll be sending you off to dreamland."

He nodded in my direction before sitting down at the end of the bed. "So, Bella, have you ever had surgery before?"

She shook her head no.

"A clean slate, then. I don't have to worry about bad experiences from previous anesthesiologists tainting you."

Like the pro that he is, he went through all the options with Bella, who often sought direction from me. I offered advice but didn't push her one way or another. In the end, she decided to go with a spinal and some sleepy meds to keep her sedated. She spoke of being afraid of going all the way under and not waking up, which is common.

After checking her vitals and explaining what would happen once they entered the ER, he was on his way and I knew that the orderlies would be coming for Bella at any time.

"Edward, I'm scared," she whispered as she chewed nervously on her nails.

"It's natural to fear the unknown, Bella, but I can assure you that you are in the best hands possible. I remember the first time I had surgery I was a nervous wreck, but really, you have the easiest job of all; you get to sleep while Emmett and his team do all the work."

"Will you be here when I get out so I'm not alone?"

Staring at her teary brown eyes, I knew it would take wild horses to drag me away. Even a father with a shotgun pointed at my head wouldn't deter me from staying. "You're stuck with me, kitten. Now rest."

* * *

**Bella**

Something died in my mouth while I was sleeping. Ugh. It was dry and tasted like the ass end of a monkey.

Someone giggled beside me but I didn't really recognize it.

"Bell-a," it sang, "wake up and show us those beautiful brown eyes."

"Water," I croaked. Within seconds a straw was at my mouth and I sipped until my mouth wasn't so dry. Once satisfied, I opened my left eye and saw Alice.

"Hello, beautiful! You came through your surgery just fine. Emmett worked his magic and you'll be up and on your feet in no time."

"Edward?" I asked, opening my right eye. Sure enough, he'd stayed and was asleep at an uncomfortable angle in a chair by my bed. "He stayed?"

"I think you'll have a hard time getting rid of my brother, Bella, he's pretty smitten with you, kitten." She grabbed my chart and began asking questions about nausea and where my pain was on a scale of 1 to 10. I panicked for a moment when I realized I felt no pain, in fact, I felt nothing.

"Alice! They chopped off my legs!" I shrieked, waking up Edward. "My legs are gone!"

Edward reached my side in a split second, half-asleep. "What's wrong?"

"Emmett cut off my legs, Edward! I can't feel them!"

Alice giggled as she pulled back the blankets. My legs were there, although one was trussed up and wired like a new construction project. There were pins and bars everywhere. But I couldn't feel them.

"Why can't I feel my legs? Are you Cullen brothers hell-bent on destroying me?"

"Bella, sweetie, the spinal hasn't worn off yet, and trust me; I know from experience that you'll wish it was still numb in a couple of hours. Now, I hope you don't mind, but I had my sister-in-law bring in some clothes for you, because I know for a fact that Johnny shirts are the pits and it's hard to get comfortable in them. As soon as you're more awake and feeling a little less groggy, we'll help you get changed."

I squinted in the direction of some bright colours I noticed out the corner of my eye. "Flowers? Where did they come from?"

Edward moved over to pull the tray over to me. "These are from your parents," he pointed to a lovely bouquet of daisies. "And…well, these ones are from me."

I smiled at the large bouquet of sunflowers. "Thanks, Edward. You didn't have to do that."

"It was the least I could do after…anyway, I'm glad you like them." He moved the tray down to the end of the bed.

Alice went about checking on the tubes and wires coming out of me, resuming her checklist of questions. Obviously I was still feeling the effects of the sedative because I dozed off again, only to wake up to excruciating pain. Again, Alice to the rescue. She hooked me up with a pain pump and explained how it worked. With morphine in my system I wasn't long in falling into a strange drug-induced dream that Edward and I were married and had a dozen kids who all looked like a cross between Emmett and Big Bird.

I woke up Christmas morning feeling grouchy and groggy and generally rotten. Edward was at my side even though I tried sending him away. No one could accuse him of being anything but persistent. I ran my fingers through his hair as he dozed with his head on the bed and smiled. Why couldn't I have a guy in my life like him? Why did I have to end up with every loser within a 50 mile radius?

"Mm, that feels good, Bella. Don't stop," he mumbled sleepily.

"Merry Christmas, Edward," I whispered sadly, knowing that as soon as the guilt wore off he'd go back to his life and I'd be stuck in this stupid hospital bed, alone.

His head popped up and he looked frantically at the clock. "Shit," he muttered. "Bella, I hate to do this, but I have to go for a bit."

It was hard to hide my disappointment, especially since I was feeling so down as it was, but I just waved him off. "I understand; your family will be expecting you."

A warm hand cupped my cheek. "Alice is off duty soon and will come sit with you until I get back. Don't worry, you won't be alone for a second, I promise."

"Don't worry about me, Edward, you guys should spend the day with your family. Don't let your guilty conscience keep you away from them for my benefit. I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

My words came out harsher than I had intended and I think I added to the enormous guilt he was bearing. He looked sadly at me before placing a kiss on my forehead. "I would rather be here with you than anywhere else, Bella, and it's not just because I feel some sort of obligation. I just have this thing I need to do and I'll be back. I know we just met and I've not given you any reason to trust me, but please, trust me."

I nodded, too afraid to speak. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an iPod. "I've got several thousand songs on here—hopefully you'll find something you like to keep you occupied. Alice said she was going to bring some magazines and books for you too. I promise I won't be long."

Edward squeezed my hand before he left and the second I heard the sound of his footfalls getting further and further away, the tears came by what felt like gallons. I found myself thankful that I was still hooked up to the saline drip because if I kept crying like this all the time, I was going to end up severely dehydrated.

Scrolling through Edward's iPod, I found myself intrigued by his playlists. I've always stood firmly behind the fact that you can really tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to, but I had to make an exception for Doctor Edward Cullen. Talk about diverse! He had music from every era, genre, language you could think of. His classical collection was enormous and not stacked with the usuals so I knew that he had a much broader appreciation and knowledge of the genre than most people. Seemed he also loved Johnny Cash and some of the older country/bluegrass music of the fifties and sixties. Heavy metal from the eighties and nineties could be found next to Drum n Bass music of the millennium. It was all so fascinating. I had to laugh at one list called _Guilty Pleasures of Youth_ that included the soundtracks to popular eighties teen movies; particularly John Hughes films.

I settled on Edward's _Guilty Pleasures_ and fell asleep two or three songs into it. My last waking memory was _Bring out the Dancing Horses_ by Echo and the Bunnymen from the _Pretty in Pink_ soundtrack.

"Belllll-aaaa," someone said faintly over _Twist and Shout_ from the _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_ album. "Wake up, beautiful girl. I think Santa came to visit while you were sleeping."

The earbuds were gently pulled from my ears prompting me to open my eyes. Alice and Emmett stood around my bed with some incredibly gorgeous blonde woman, Jasper the anesthesiologist and two people I'd never met but knew without a shadow of a doubt were Doctor and Mrs. Cullen. Are there any ugly people in that family?

"Merry Christmas!" they all whisper-shouted as they threw red and green confetti at me.

"Am I dreaming?"

"Nope, you're not dreaming, but you must have been having one doozy of a dream before we woke you up."

I thought for a moment and realized that I'd been dreaming that Edward was driving me around on an old-school ride-on mower while Ducky fought with Ferris Bueller over Samantha's panties. "Yeah, you could say that."

The elder Cullen, or rather, Hot Doc Cullen Sr., moved to the foot of my bed and smiled. "Hi Bella, I'm the father figure of this motley crew, Carlisle. I hope you don't mind, but after hearing what happened we hated the thought of you being here by yourself. We've brought Christmas to you."

Yup, I'm dreaming. There's no way I'm not. People like this don't exist in my world.

Dr. Bones, as I'd started calling Emmett, came closer with the buxom blonde. "Bella, this is my Rosie, who will also be your physiotherapist when you're ready to get back on your feet."

Rosie smiled widely, showing off her perfect white teeth. "It's nice to meet you, Bella. Edward hasn't shut up about you in the past 24 hours."

I tugged gently at the comfy Christmas-themed flannel night shirt Alice had helped me get into earlier. "I'm wearing your clothes, I think. Thanks."

"No problem. I picked up some more for you, including some shorts for when we get down and dirty into your rehab." I'm pretty sure it was the drugs that made her smile seem to quickly shift between sweet and malevolent. I feared she was going to be a real ballbuster of a therapist.

The beautiful older redheaded woman sat on the side of my bed, taking my hand as she smiled at me. "I'm Esme, sweetheart."

"Ah, the mother who brought her boys up to be gentlemen; except of course when they fall on a helpless girl and shatter her ankle," I teased. She laughed and appraised me thoughtfully. "You have made quite the impact on my son, dear."

Emmett laughed aloud. "Actually, Ma, I think it's the other way around, based on the mess I patched up yesterday."

Several hands slapped at Emmett all at once and I couldn't help but let out the most obnoxious laugh-snort I think I'd ever heard in my life. These guys were genuinely silly and I was finding myself loving them more and more even though we'd only just met.

"Where's Edward?"

Esme smiled. "He's running an errand and should be here anytime, sweetheart. In the meantime, are you hungry? We brought some light snacks to have before we break out the turkey dinner."

"Turkey dinner? Really?" I asked, amazed.

"Ma makes the best turkey dinner, Bella. You won't need anything to help you sleep tonight because it'll put you in a turkey coma for days. Mmm…" he moaned, "turkey coma."

Esme got up and opened a big cooler bag. "Who wants cheese biscuits?"

We ate and talked and laughed. I learned a lot about the people who had been taking such good care of me and was thankful to now call them my friends. I couldn't help but find myself wondering what Edward was up to. He'd been gone for a couple of hours and had promised to be back soon. No stores were open on Christmas Day, so what was he doing?

After our snack, everyone sprawled out on various surfaces in my room to watch _A Christmas Story_, which I was told was another Cullen tradition. It was about thirty minutes into the movie when the door to my room opened and my parents came rushing in.

"MOM! DADDY! How? When? What…what the hell are you doing here? How did you afford plane tickets?" I was full-on snot sobbing at the sight of my travel-weary parents as they showered me with hugs and kisses.

"When Edward offered to cover the cost of our flights, we couldn't say no! It would be wrong for us to stay away when you're hurt and alone at Christmas," Mom said, sniffling. "I can see we were wrong about your being alone, though."

"These wonderful people are Edward's family." As I introduced everyone to my folks, I couldn't help but search for Edward's messy hair above the crowd. When I finally spotted him, I squealed and held open my arms, being careful not to dislodge my IV line. "Come here, you sneaky bastard!"

Edward approached me slowly, unsure of what I was going to do. When he reached my side, I pulled him down onto the bed and gave him the biggest hug I could muster. "Thank you so much! You didn't have to do it, but I can't thank you enough. Best Christmas ever!"

Actually, it was the second best Christmas ever. Edward and I married one year to the day after our fateful meet-up, bringing our families together again for the holidays, only this time it was for much happier reasons. Edward and I fell for each other in more ways than one, but it was one of life's happy accidents. I have never been more thankful for a patch of black ice in my life.


End file.
